2012 Maison Williams Chase Cairanne

Discovery

Perhaps one of the less widely recognised appellations on my list, I discovered this wine on a chance visit to one of my French distributors. After tasting the wine straight from the barrel I decided there and then that I needed to share it with you due to its unusual mix of aromas. It packs a punch that rivals its more famous competitors.

Tasting Notes

Intense purple in colour. It holds aromas of ripe raspberries, wood smoke, Provençal olives and spices, with a subtle floral backdrop. Remaining juicy and sharply focused, it offers impressive depth with developing cherry and dark berry flavours. Complexity builds with length, supported by elegance and roundness, combined with a subtle tannin structure pushing to a gently spicy yet persistent finish.

Did you know?

- Wines from this appellation can only be made at vineyards where the yield is less than 40 hectolitres per hectare.

-There has been a campaign running since 1929 to award Cairanne with an AOC status, headed by Baron LeRoy, the founder of the Institut National des Appellations d’Origine.